Coffee Cups and a Bag of Peas
by shan14
Summary: Stephen confonts an old enemy, much to the horror and amusement of his collegues.


A/N: Not sure where this came from...i just decided it would be funny to see an exchange between Stephan and...well...you'll see who he is later on :P

I'm away for the next week so kudos to anyone who can make me feel loved next Saturday by leaving a review! \

Disclaimer: I only own John Parkes...though me wishes he was in the show as it would have been quite hilarious!

Warning: A few words are exchanged between the men...nothing to bad...but you've been warned! oh! and also when Frank's freaking out at the beginning :)

---

"Oh god no"

If there was one thing Frank Powell hated worse on Fridays than being stuck in an unfamiliar state with people dying around him, it was definitely the look of complete hate his friend was throwing at the man standing before them.

"Stephen" he whispered flatly, hoping the man would take the hint and turn away before the other man realised who he had bumped into.

"Stephen?

"John"

_S__hoot!_

"What do you want" Stephen growled, stepping towards the man menacingly.

_Oh dear lord…_

"I don't think that's any of your business Connor" replied the man, eyeing the blonde haired doctor before him with a mixed sense of annoyance and bitter dislike.

"It is when it concerns my friend" reminded Stephen, looking down upon the shorter man as his nose crinkled in disgust.

_Threat maybe? _Thought Frank sarcastically, mentally panicking as he tried to figure out the best way to the avoid broken bones, law suits or in some cases both, that would surely happen if Stephen and John Parkes were left to themselves.

"Stephen we really need to see Kate" he reminded, wondering briefly when his voice had become so insignificantly small. Stephen merely grunted in annoyance.

_Ok__ay then: plan B…_

"She'll kill us if we're late" he tried again. Stephen mumbled something under his breath, the words sounding awfully like 'if I don't kill him first' and making Frank flinch in pain.

_Natalie was going to kill him…_

"Stephen…"

"John, step inside will you?" commanded Stephen authoritivly, shooting the man a look that dared him to disagree. Parkes breathed out loudly through his nose before stalking into the break room, spinning quickly so that his back was not turned to the enemy for more than a few seconds.

Frank tried desperately to worm his way into the room also, having no real plan as to how he would stop the two from killing each other but understanding that it would be mildly easier if he were in the same room as them.

Unfortunately the gods had other ideas for him.

"Stephen let me in" he yelled angrily, banging at the now locked break room door as the doctor grinned savagely at him. There was only one thing that grin could mean and under no circumstances was it 'we're just going to have a nice chat and then let you in Frank'.

Knowing Stephen as he did it was more the 'we're going to beat each other to a pulp until you break down the door to get the body bags in'

_Shit!_

Of course the break room had to have glass walls. A nice little audience had already situated themselves around door and the younger (more foolish in Frank's opinion) ones were trying to get a clue of what was being said.

At least the break room had been sound proofed.

---

"What on earth…" mumbled Eva as she wondered down the hallways in search of her boss.

An ever growing crowd had congregated around the break room door; doctors, assistants, receptionists and the likes all clamouring to get in on the action. Somewhere down the front Frank was desperately trying to get people to leave, his flailing arms made him look quite lost and his words were being drowned out by the constant chatter.

"What's going on?"

"Who is he?"

"Anyone thrown a punch yet?" were among the common questions being thrown around and Eva, curiosity growing as she noticed Mile's pale face next to Frank, broke her way through to them.

"What's happening?" she asked, eyeing the look of dread Frank now wore as he gazed helplessly through the window.

Eva turned slowly to take in the menacing face of Stephen Connor. She gasped in horror before realising he was looking at someone else in the room, the resentment between the pair being felt outside the confinements that the break room had to offer.

She watched in half amusement, half horror as Stephens face slowly began to turn an angry shade of red, his fist clenching and unclenching as he paced the room, occasionally throwing sarcastic comments at the other man whose face was now a distinct shade of purple.

"Who is he?" she asked Frank, noting Mile's confusion matching her own.

The elder man sighed loudly "His names John Parkes"

The chatter of the group died down as a few of the older men and woman gasped in realisation. Frank sent them a quick look before they too stopped, each persons attention placed solely on the man before them. Well half attention, most people still had an eye on the fight being had on the other side of the glass.

"John Parkes?" replied Eva, raising an eyebrow in request for more information.

"I'm sorry Eva, but I can't tell you more than that" sighed Frank, wincing as a painful thump was heard from inside.

Stephen had started banging his fist against the coffee table.

"Nothing?" repeated Miles, fishing for even the tiniest piece of info.

"I promised I wouldn't"

"Some how I don't think Stephen's very fussed with secrets right now Frank" prodded Eva once more.

"Yes" The man nodded slowly in agreement "But it wasn't him I promised"

---

A loud crash followed by a few screams and shouts echoed loudly through the hallways.

_Shit!_

Parkes, in all his wisdom, had let his anger issues get the better of him once again, throwing the unlucky coffee cup that had been left on the table earlier through the glass window and towards the crowd of people.

As the initial shock wore off and the people stood up slowly each registered that with the breaking of the wall they could now hear the argument as well as watch it.

The first thing they heard was the low rumble of Stephen's laughter, the sound confusing those who knew him only by reputation and those who knew him as their boss, friend or workmate.

"And you wonder why she left you" he sneered, swaying against the side of the table as the emotion and adrenaline of the argument got the better of him. Something at the back of his mind was yelling very harshly to stop, turn and run and he vaguely realised that the closest relationship he held was currently on the line.

Unfortunately the little part of his brain that had hated John Parkes from the day he had met him, through to all the days spent listening to her chatter lovingly about him to the days were the man had shattered her heart had won, and currently Stephen wanted nothing more than to flatten that little sneering smirk right of Parkes annoying little face.

He had barely heard the man cross the room before he felt to hands push him up against cupboard, one holding him by the collar while the other gripped dangerously close to his throat.

_Where the hell'd he get the strength to do that _wondered Stephen briefly before Parkes voice registered in his mind as speaking.

"You bastard" growled the man before him "You fucking bastard"

"Maybe if you hadn't been fukin' sleepin' with her she wouldn't have left me" he yelled for the entire world to hear. Somewhere Stephen could hear a wave of gasps behind him as he remembered the many people that had been watching, and were now listening, to their exchange.

It was going to take him a while to talk that little bit down.

Still, he reasoned as Parkes tobacco breath breathed sickeningly down his neck, he had no reason to prove himself to this pathetic excuse of a man. No obligation to apologise when he knew he was in the right.

Before he had considered the consequences he found himself laughing again, watching Parkes face turn a darker shade of purple. He could feel the stares of the people outside, most thinking him a dead man now and no doubt saying their prayers for the poor blonde doctor laughing in the face a death.

"You actually believe that, don't you?" he asked, not able to contain the grin that threatened to break across his features.

"You actually think that we had an affair going while you continued with your sorry excuse of being a husband when we all know that not one fibre of you body cared about her"

A fist collided painfully with his cheek as Parkes anger broke loose once more.

Except Stephen was one a role.

"You actually think that we'd stoop as low as you" he yelled louder, glancing swiftly towards the people staring wide mouthed at him from outside. Miles in particular was looking very pale.

"You keep telling yourself that Parkes, hoping to make yourself feel better about the fact that she wanted to spend more of her time with me than she did with her own husband"

"But I promise you John, nothing we ever did was that disgusting" he spat "She spent her time with you because she had to, but she spent her time with me because she wanted to, because I appreciated her"

"Stephen"

The new voice rang clearly in his ear, breaking through the mist that had formed and causing his heart and stomach to drop painfully.

Both men turned slowly towards the mortified woman before them, her arms wrapped protectively around herself as they fought like animals over someone that belonged to neither of them.

"Til" whispered Stephen, stepping towards her as she stepped back and shook her head. She sent him a confused glance as realisation hit home, he hadn't called her Tillie since before she had divorced John, and hearing it now brought a nervous tingle to her skin.

"Natalie" tried John, figuring to pick up where Stephen had failed. The blonde haired doctor turned swiftly towards the advancing man, where as she had been confused by Connor she knew exactly where her feelings lay in regards to John.

"If you even so much as think of coming near me or my work place again John so help me god it will be the last thing you do" she stated fiercely, glaring at him as his face fell. He nodded once, glancing towards Stephen and then back at Natalie before stumbling from the room, pushing through the crowd of people still watching the scene before them.

"I'll be in touch about the window" called Stephen after him, grinning to himself as Natalie spun round to glare at him.

"What?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders and wincing painfully as his cheek started to swell. Natalie threw him an exasperated look before sighing and stalking from the room, past the whispering people and towards the safety of her lab.

---

Hours later Stephen sat painfully in his chair, leaning back to balance the frozen pack of pea's thrown across his right cheek.

A soft knock at the door brought him from his thoughts and he stopped spinning, holding the peas in place as he grunted loudly for the person to enter.

The first thing he noticed was the slight hesitation before the person entered, then the small hand that snuck around the door before the rest of the body followed, finally joined by the head of the person he had hoped and dreaded to see all afternoon.

"Hi" he started cautiously, reminding himself why they had left behind the formalities of welcomes years ago.

He watched her take a deep breath and close her eyes, calling on some inner calm to pull her through the difficult conversation that would follow.

She cracked one eye open to look at him, drinking in his dishevelled appearance before opening the other eye.

"I didn't hit him this time" informed Stephen almost proudly.  
Despite all her earlier threats to kill him Natalie couldn't help but smile at his words. Noticing this Stephen smiled as well, to pair stuck gazing at each other as they both grinned foolishly.

"Why do you always do that?" whispered Natalie, so soft that Stephen wasn't sure if he had heard it or imagined it.

"What?" he probed. She smiled faintly as she collapsed into a chair.

"Make me forget my anger" she admitted. She stole a glance up at the man across from her, watching in amusement as he broke into a grin; the grin turning to a wince as the sudden movement caused the peas to move against his now swollen eye.

"Let me take a look at that" she said, nodding towards his face. Stephen held his hands out, blindly batting her away as she moved to perch on his desk.

"Stephen stop it" she chastised, swatting his hands away and grabbing his face with her hands. He squinted an eye open.

"It hurts when you do that" he mumbled indignantly

"Maybe if you held still it wouldn't" she countered, peeling away the frozen peas and gasping slightly.

"He hit you harder this time" she mumbled, remembering John and Stephen's last encounter.

"Yes, well last time I fought back, remember" teased Stephen with mock annoyance.

"But you didn't this time" smiled Natalie gently.

"No" he sighed, almost sadly "I was a good little boy and let the bully beat me to a pulp" he replied sarcastically.

"Why where you so good?" she questioned, remembering Stephen's many threats to kill her Ex in the past.

He grumbled something unintelligible as he shrugged, the movement causing her hand to slip and him to gasp in pain once more.

"Geez Til" he muttered "Kill me why don't ya"

The pair both froze, Natalie's warm hands holding steady against his face as his hands sat dangerously close to her waist.

"That's the second time you've called me that today" she mumbled, running a hand down his left cheek and cupping his chin.

"I missed it" she added, running her thumb across his bottom lip.

"Maybe I should call you it more often" suggested Stephen, his words vibrating softly against Natalie's thumb as his hand found its way to her waist, absently pulling her closer to his body.

"Just not in front of the team" she smiled softly, tracing her finger over his top lip before running it up towards his closed eyes following the pattern back down to his chin before repeating it over again.

"Then when am I supposed to call you it" he teased in confusion, wondering how he'd managed to not only avoid getting yelled out but to now have the one person he had dreamed of wrapped safely in his arms.

"You could start with tonight, 7 o'clock, my place" she whispered, leaning dangerously close to his lips.

_Screw that…_

"How about now?" suggested Stephen with a grin, leaning in the rest of the way to capture her lips with his own.

As his hand found its way to her blonde locks he pulled her gently into his lap, the bag of peas falling from his cheek and landing with a thud at their feet below.

---


End file.
